IRAQ: TWO U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED BY MORTAR ATTACK NEAR BAQUBA/TOP SHI'ITE CLERIC DEMANDS AL-HAWZA ROLE IN FUTURE IRAQ.

Record ID: 355728

  • Title: IRAQ: TWO U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED BY MORTAR ATTACK NEAR BAQUBA/TOP SHI'ITE CLERIC DEMANDS AL-HAWZA ROLE IN FUTURE IRAQ.
  • Date: 26th December 2003
  • Summary: (W5) BAQUBA, IRAQ (DECEMBER 26, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. LV/GV: FAR SHOT OF THE U.S. BASE IN BAQUBA (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. GV: U.S TANK AT THE BASE VEHICLE AT THE BASE 0.16 3. GV: VARIOUS OF U.S. MILITARY VEHICLE AT THE BASE (3 SHOTS) 0.30 4. GV/MV: AN ARMED IRAQI MAN WALKING IN STREET (2 SHOTS) 0.41 5. GV: STREET SCENES IN BAQUBA (3
  • Embargoed: 10th January 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BAQUBA, BAGHDAD AND KUFA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Reuters ID: LVA1UZE717WGDUZBOJPTZ8KGCKAE
  • Story Text: Two U.S. soldiers killed in mortar attack in Iraq.

    Shi'ite cleric warns of consequences if Al-Hawza is not
    given a role in the future Iraq.



    Guerrillas extended the biggest insurgent attacks in
    Iraq since Saddam Hussein's capture, killing four U.S.

    soldiers in mortar and bomb attacks, the U.S. military said
    on Friday (December 26).

    A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded another
    when it exploded by a convoy near Baquba, about 65 km (40
    miles) north of Baghdad, early on Friday. A second soldier
    was killed the same day trying to defuse a bomb outside the
    town, a U.S. military spokesman said.

    Two other U.S. soldiers were killed in a mortar attack
    on a U.S. camp near Baquba on Thursday (December 25). A
    spokesperson for the 4th Infantry Division said the attack
    occurred at about 6:15 p.m. (1515 GMT) on Thursday at a
    U.S. base near Baquba, some 65 km (40 miles) north of
    Baghdad. A U.S. officer had earlier said eight were
    wounded, two seriously.

    The deaths bring to 210 the number of U.S.

    killed-in-action since Washington declared an end to major
    combat on May 1, a figure that boosts pressure on the U.S.

    administration as George W Bush mounts his campaign for the
    2004 presidential election.

    Baquba, which is located in an arc of resistance that
    also extends to the west of the capital Baghdad is a hotbed
    of anti-U.S. attacks. Washington blames attacks on Saddam
    supporters and foreign Islamic militants.

    At least two other people were killed when a car bomb
    exploded on a highway in western Baghdad, witnesses said on
    Friday (December 26).

    They said that the car bomb ripped through a passing
    minibus. It's thought the bomb was meant for a U.S.

    military convoy, which was driving on a highway in the
    Amiriya neighbourhood of Baghdad.

    In Kufa, Shi'ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr threatened on
    Friday (December 26 , 2003) that he would react in a way
    never seen before, if Al-Hawza was not given a role in the
    future Iraq. Al-Hawza is an international Shi'ite network
    with headquarters in Najaf. It's elders are seen as the
    authority on Shi'ite religious and political matters world
    wide.

    "If the Hawza would not get its rights, we are able to
    take our rights by our hands . And if some of the people of
    Hawza have preferred to keep silent, I will not keep silent
    and you will see something like you've never seen before,"
    Sadr said in his sermon at Friday prayers before a large
    congregation that packed Kufa mosque south of Baghdad.

    He also demanded that former Iraqi president Saddam
    Hussein be tried by an Iraqi court.

    "Be aware you occupiers, Saddam is with you (Americans)
    and not against you and you cannot save him and you can
    never use him as a hostage to intimidate the Iraqi people
    or their leadership , and we warn you if we heard about the
    postponement of his trial or that he will not be tried by
    Iraqis . So be aware of these acts hostile to Iraq," Sadr
    said.

    Saddam was arrested by U.S. forces on December 13 in
    an area south of his hometown of Tikrit.

    Faced with U.S. threats to arrest him if he continues
    flirting with rebellion, Sadr in recent sermons has
    moderated his words and disavowed armed attacks.

    Sadr also condemned France's decision to ban Islamic
    headscarves and other religious symbols in public schools
    as a hostile act against religions and called on Muslims to
    condemn the act.

    The 30-year-old Muqtada is a firebrand anti-American
    who has threatened to lead a Shiite guerrilla war against
    U.S. troops.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register